Inside Your Heart
by Joei Write
Summary: Sequel to "Inside the Wind". Diego has been having nightmares about the moment he almost lost Shira, but Shira has been having dreams about their future cubs. They decide to take a visit to the place where it happened, and discover just how much they really mean to each other. One-shot romance for Diego and Shira, also contains Louis and Peaches.


**Of the 13 Reviews I got for "Inside the Wind", 9 of them were asking for a sequel! That's new for me, I never get that kind of attention, not even in the Happy Feet archives! So by your requests, here's the sequel to "Inside the Wind", the meaning behind the name is apparent, but this'll contain more than just Diego and Shira, it will also contain some Louis and Peaches in it, but mostly Diego and Shira. I wrote this up really fast just for your pleasure, because I know how you wanted to see this continued. So I dropped what I was working on and directly did a sequel! Alright, you asked for it, here's…**

Inside Your Heart

Sequel to "Inside the Wind"

By MyWayWriter

Diego sprinted his hardest to try and catch up with the ice boat that was leaving Turnback Cove, Manny had managed to distract Gutt and the others with the help of their new Hyrax friends, and everything was set. Part of their plan involved Diego being off the ice, only for a short while, but as he returned to the ice and was about to make the final dash, a certain white-striped terror miss jumped down on his head and made his head nearly secrete into the rock beneath them.

"Diego…!" Manny yelled in an attempt to help out his friend.

It was then that Diego turned his gaze to his attacker, and when he looked at Shira, he saw so much fear, anguish and despair. His stone heart melted at the sight of her sorrow, so much that he would've normally turned right back up and attacked, but he couldn't bring himself to strike her, he just couldn't. A fire lit in his mind, and that it then burned up to his mouth, but not before carrying words out from deep in his heart, a place Diego had long forgotten about.

"You don't have to do this Shira!" He tried to tell her, but he saw the seeming mind control come back over her.

"Yes I do, you don't understand!" She looked like she was almost ready to cry, like her instincts knew that she was instructed to kill, but her emotions wouldn't let her. "They're my family!"

"Would a family leave you for dead in the middle of the ocean to fend for yourself…?" Diego bled her with. The words penetrated her hard outer shell and struck her right in the heart, she knew he was right, but her loyalty to Gutt kept getting in the way. "You say you left your pack? Well I think you just traded one for another!" He threw yet at her again, the feelings in her paws that were holding him down on the ground just seemed to let themselves go, he was right, no question. Diego got back up, his heart still racing because his ride home was leaving.

"You don't get it Diego, this is all I have." Shira kept bringing back, but Diego refused to let her live this way, he didn't know why, but something made him say,

"Look what I have, I have a herd, we watch out for each other, we've got each other's backs…" Shira didn't seem convinced, she needed something more to make her go. The light was fading from her eyes fast, but Diego was there right when he needed to be, "Come with us…come with me…",

All the hope came right back to her eyes and she felt like that was the reason, and it was the best reason anyone could give her, she pretended to think, but quickly dropped the act due to her hot heartbeat, and nodded, just once. They quickly began to run together, chasing after _their _ride home, but Shira caught something with her ear, it was the sound of fingers tumbling, and an angry chimp grumbling, Gutt. He was swooping down from the nearby cliff, and Gutt didn't realize Shira was _with _Diego, not after him. Gutt dropped down and kept chasing them, so fast that Shira knew that, by just taking one look back, if she went with them, they'd never make it. This was her chance to prove she was loyal, not to her band of misfits, but to her own conscience, and to Diego. She made a swift turn and pushed out some ice blocks to cut off Gutt's path while Diego jumped onto the ice ship, just barely making it. Gutt slipped and almost fell off the side, but recovered just in time to watch the ship get out of distance.

As Diego turned around, he just was there enough to catch a glimpse of Shira stopping and ruining Gutt's plan, his heart stopped and his world froze faster than the ice around him, "Shira…! What are you doing?" He didn't let Manny or Sid see it, but a tear came to his eye, and it burned him like acid.

"I've got your back…" He heard her say, just as Gutt turned around and grabbed her by the throat and held her up with one of his huge hands. In his other one was a big swordfish skeleton sword, and Diego wanted to look away, but his eyes were unified with Shira's, they couldn't look away from one another. Shira couldn't breathe, Gutt was holding her up high with one hand and was ready to gut her himself.

"This is for helping the enemy, first mate…" Gutt nautically said in his salty voice, and right before the blow was struck, Diego blinked and caught a glimpse of Shira smiling at him, she knew she did the right thing.

"Shira…" He whispered to himself, Shira did her best to take one last breath and never flinched as Gutt stabbed her in the side, "SHIRA…!"

Diego woke up screaming her name, it had all been a dream, a malicious flashback of what had almost happened at the cove on the island where they now lived. Diego was panting heavily, and his fur was covered in his own sweat, the area around him was a sticky puddle, and the smell in the air was foul. As he slowly stopped hyper ventilating, he couldn't remember what had happened that night, or the previous day, all he could think was,

_What if that really did happen? What if I did lose her? _Diego remembered the look on her face from when it happened in real life, the tragic heartbroken stare they gave one another as he slowly was pulled away by the tides, thinking, and for some reason knowing, that they'd never see one another again. The face was stuck in his mind, her eyebrows raised, her mouth in a mope, ears down, and that one single tear forming in the corner of right eye. Just the thought of the image made him shake, but he turned it off and stood up. As he stood he felt his legs shake and quiver, as if a tremor shook their new beach side den.

Manny, Ellie, Peaches, Louis, Ethan, and even Sid had offered to build them a home of their own on the far side of the island so they could be alone. It was a lovely little dome shaped, leaf draped, rock supported little shelter right on the sand. And because they were on the other side of the island, they fell asleep every night to the rhythm of the waves crashing in on the shoreline, along with the company of each other.

Judging from the height of the moon in the sky, Diego figured it was about three in the morning, long before anyone was going to get up. A few more deep breaths and he was ready to start walking, despite his legs being so jittery. He took a single step, and then he heard the most soothing sound in the world, beside him he saw Shira, his new mate and love of his life. Diego leaned in and saw she was sleeping like she usually did, with her paws crossed and her head over them, the rest of her body on her side, her stomach slowly rising and falling to the melody of the ocean near them. This did nothing but bring a smile to Diego's face, and he put one paw down in from of her face and leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You're safe…that's all that matters…" He said to his sleeping tigress. As soon as he was done with that he side stepped away from her and walked to the shore. He sat down on the wet sand and let a wave or two splash his lower half, and then he put his paw out and got his paw wet and used it to rub his face down, it was a petit attempt to get rid of the sweat he leaked during his nightmare. He flicked his paw when he was done and sent the horrid fluids back into the sea, but he smelled no better. Another deep breath, for he had done many of them now; no one was around, so seeing as how he was awake, he just sat back on his hind legs and watched the ocean move as it does.

Shira was quite the opposite of her male counterpart, she was dreaming sweetly, her mind filled with pleasant thoughts and fantasies. Every night she had been like this, her heart open and drifting through endless dreams about her life with this herd, and with Diego. Shira's favorite dream was a vision she had one night; right before she went to bed, she walked past a bird's nest by herself and had seen a mother swoop in and feed her three little peeping chicks. It warmed her heart to a boil, and when she said her good nights to Diego, she instantly had a dream that to use the word beautiful would be an understatement.

She had seen herself lying on her side in their beachside den, and she was nurturing three little cubs; their meek and precious little voices chirping up from their feeding. Diego then walked in and saw the event, to which his eyes watered and he just walked over to Shira and they nuzzled passionately to a point where them separating felt weird.

"They're just…" Diego couldn't think of a good enough word, "What are we going to call them?" Shira raised an eyebrow and looked at her three young, so small and innocent to the vibrations of the maniacal world they lived in. They had two girls and a boy, they could tell because the girls look like Shira, only one had green eyes like Diego, and the other was a little smaller with brown eyes, but still they were tiny, white coated, black stripped tigresses. The little male of the group had Diego's fur coating, he was the runt of the litter, but his beady blue eyes could pierce through anyone's toughness.

"Well…for the girls…I was listening to the water, and they gave me the names I wanted." Diego's eyebrows shot up with anticipation. "For the one with green eyes, I was thinking…Odette…" The wind then blew across the family, like the wind picked the name for them, and nature agreed with it. Diego and Shira felt the breeze, and they both loved it.

"Odette…I love it, what about the other girl?" Shira looked at the smaller, brown eyed girl.

"Something is telling me her name is…Iyani…" No wind coursed in the den, the cradle, where they were. Instead the waves crashed onto the shore, another sign the name was perfect.

"Any the boy…?" Diego asked in anticipation, but Shira gave him the look of question, and also excitement.

"Well actually, since he's the only boy, I wanted you to name him." Diego's eyes grew, he was nervous to name his son, he was worried the kids would make fun of his boy if he picked a stupid name.

He clustered a jumble of names in his cortex, but after he aggregated them and was about to say his pick, and massive storm of sea spray came from the water and was heading towards them. Diego jumped in front of them and let most of the mist hit him while little got inside the den and into the air above the newborn cubs. "Darn sea spray…" Diego grumbled to himself, but as he turned around, he saw the boy cub no longer sucking on Shira for colostrum; instead his itty bitty paws were patting in the air, as if he was trying to touch the spray and salt in the air above his head. The sight made Diego get a tear in his eye, and a jester grin slip on his face. "Sea Spray…"

Shira shot him a look of confusion, "What was that?" She asked again, trying to sound like she knew what he was saying.

"Sea Spray…that's his name, look at him…" Shira cringed at the name at first, but when she saw the cub just pawing the air, an 'aww' escaped her lungs and she couldn't have agreed more.

"It's the best one yet Diego…Odette…Iyani…and Sea Spray…my little Sea Spray…" Shira began to cry tears of joy from her waterfall eyes, and they continued to nuzzle in the looming mist that filled their home with hope and possibility.

But sadly for Shira, this world was nothing but a dream she had one night, that was all, she never saw these imaginary cubs again, and she was starting to wonder if she'd ever be a mother. It was then that her proprioception detected a disturbance in the area around her, it forced her to wake up, only to see Diego wasn't beside her, only a massive collection of sweat. Shira suddenly feared for her new mate, this was because they'd only been mates for a few days, and stood up and walked out of their beachfront, only to be relieved when she saw him sitting right on the water's edge. She walked up behind him, and he looked at her, but both of them had a look of doubt in their eyes. **(Just so I'm clear, they both had dreams, Shira's was about family, Diego's was about what if he had lost her at Turnback Cove. Both of them are now awake and in the present, Odette, Iyani, and Sea Spray aren't real, and this story takes place about four days after "Inside the Wind". Just for those who were confused…)**

"Did you…have a bad dream? You know you left behind quite a mess in there." Shira told him, he was well aware of his mess, but the softness of her voice made him at ease.

"I know Shira, believe me I know. But yeah, I had a bad dream, but…" He paused for a few moments, and Shira got a concerned and sympathetic look on her face and sat next to him and wrapped her front paw around his leg and snuggled trying to comfort him. "It was more like a nightmare, the worst one yet." Shira picked up her head from snuggling with him, he had had more than one?

"You've had more? I thought this was just a tonight thing?" Shira exclaimed trying to make sure she didn't hear what she thought she heard.

"No Shira, it's been going on every night since we became mates. It's worrying me, but I still love you, that's not being doubted in my mind." Diego had turned to her when he said this, and she had then placed her head back into his shoulder after he said it, it was one of the squishiest things he'd ever said, but she didn't mind him being soft, that was probably the thing she loved most about him. After she fitted her head back, Diego then placed his head on top of hers and the cuddled in the moonlight. While Shira was being embraced by Diego, a question escaped her mouth,

"What was it about?" She was curious. Diego and Shira never moved their heads from the position they were in, their hearts wouldn't let them, it felt too right to let go. Diego took a deep breath and explained everything.

"It was an alternate version of what happened at Turnback Cove, you pounced on me, I talked you in to coming in, and you stopped Gutt from catching me, all that was the same." Shira was still intently listening, she felt like the bad part was about to come up. "The major thing that was different was that…after we looked at one another, Gutt grabbed you and held you up for me to see, and then he gutted you with one of those fish swords…right in front of me, and I couldn't do a thing to help you." Shira only pushed closer into Diego chest, and she heard his heartbeat increase.

"I'm sorry Diego, I don't know why you would dream that, we seemed so connected in that moment."

"That's probably why…"

"Why what…?" Shira turned back around with, still not pulling out of their lock.

"I bonded with you so much in that one moment, that if anything happened to you afterwards, I would've fallen apart. And it's reminding me that, that I need to ensure you're safe…because you're my mate Shira, I love you." It was Shira's turn to cry, the emotions swelled and burst, and she just gripped his leg tighter.

"I know you do Diego, and I love you too." Shira then had an idea, and idea that would probably make Diego feel much better. "How about this, tomorrow we'll pay a visit to Turnback Cove, maybe if we go there we'll see what the issue is, something in your noggin is telling you that there's a problem. I want to help you solve it." Diego just created a bright smile for her, and the two cats just stayed in the Orinoco grasp they had on the other, and slowly and steadily, the moon fell and the sun rose.

At around seven in the morning, Manny and Ellie began to groan as they woke up to the sun casting rays through their eyelids, making it impossible to fall back asleep. Manny stood up and rubbed his eyes with his trunk and yawned, showing all his teeth and expelling all his morning breath. Ellie unfortunately woke up and blundered right in his direction as his fumes drifted in her direction.

"Whoa Manny, watch that stuff, it could choke a whale!" She exerted in a quiet voice while simultaneously shooing the stench away with her trunk.

"Sorry Ellie, you and I don't normally wake up at the same time, so I…"

"Wait, you always wake up this early…why?" Manny had revealed a secret of his, and Ellie caught on. The pressure was stuck right on Manny, and he just gave up after his wife stared at him for a few seconds.

"Alright fine, we're living on a new home now, and I just wanted to make sure Peaches wasn't sneaking off in the morning to go hang out with her…'friends'." Manny tried using his trunk to put quotation marks around friends. "Even though we all know her only real friend is Weiner…"

"HIS NAME IS LOUIS!" They heard Peaches scream from her branch in the tree, she was wide awake and had heard the whole conversation. Ellie turned to Peaches and saw her sitting on the branch with both of her front legs crossed and making a pout face at Manny. "Mom, make Dad say he's sorry for calling Louis Weiner!" She shouted like she was commanding Ellie, but no one had to ask Ellie twice.

"Manny, Peaches had been friends with Louis pretty much since she was born, why can't you just called him Louis, just once?" Ellie was trying to sound nice, but she sounded about as aggravated as Peaches was.

"Uh well I…" His answer was stopped by the sound of dirt being burrowed up through ground, and a sweet, naïve little molehog popping his head up out and grinned at the three of them.

"Good morning Peaches!" He said to her first, then turned to Ellie, "Mrs. Ellie…" He got nervous on Manny, but he kept going, "And uh…Sir Manny…" He wasn't shaking, but he wasn't perfectly still either. Peaches hopped down from the tree and scooped up Louis with her trunk and put him on her head.

"Let's go Louis, this will be so much fun!" They started to walk off when Manny grasped the situation.

"Whoa…hold on there…_Louis_…" It wasn't sarcasm, he was directly picking him out, and Louis got very scared. "Where are you taking Peaches?"

"We're just going to Turnback Cove…the waterways are fun to play in…you know, the way…they…" Manny was still standing directly over him, but Peaches came to her friend's rescue.

"We'll be back in a few hours Dad, there's no need to worry, Louis will take good care of me. Won't you…?" Peaches turned her head and smiled up at Louis. To which he just smiled and they walked off, Manny drooped his trunk and sighed.

"Ellie…?" He began, and she approached him, "Do you think…there's something going on between Louis and Peaches we should know about?"

Ellie heartily laughed at Manny's question, but she knew the answer. "Manny, if there was something going on, I personally wouldn't have a problem with it. Louis is the sweetest, and I would be happy for Peaches if Louis had those kinds of feelings for her, he's such a sweetie…" She couldn't say how much of a sweetheart Louis was enough.

The time had flown and the sun was at its setting point, Diego and Shira had spent all day trying to edge their way to the cove, both of them had nothing but bad memories of that place, and neither was fond to go back. As they finally began to walk down the last cliff and saw the cove, both passed by the tree where Shira had been held captive. Shira stopped to take a look and reminisce; she always did this when she passed that tree. Diego turned around as saw how she had frozen, apparently, the tree was her version of the cove.

"It's where we first bonded…for real anyway." Shira breathed out, and then walked back to Diego and they continued.

"But it turned into something neither of us could've seen coming. And I wouldn't have had it any other way." He confessed to her, to which they both giggled.

"Still a little soft I see…"

"It's okay to be soft when you're around the one you love…" Diego told her, and she completely agreed. Shira still didn't like admitting it out loud, but Diego made her feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside when he was around, so he made her soft too, and they still loved it. "Besides, I was made of stone for the longest time, you miss a lot of stuff when you are…" After all Diego had been through, Shira had a feeling he knew what he was talking about.

Some more walking passed by, and they began to trek down the rock ramp where they ran to get away from Gutt. Diego felt like he was following the tracks of a ghost walking down this path, and as he did, all he could think about was what had happened here, he almost lost her. Shira on the other paw was thinking about what had happened in Diego's dream, her being killed mercilessly by Gutt on the tip. They finished their walk and saw the ice blocks that Shira pushed in the way where still where they had been at the time, no one moved them, not even the Hyraxes. Shira stared at her work, satisfied with how it all turned out, but Diego wasn't moving.

"Diego…something wrong?" You don't have to be married to someone for long to read their faces, and Diego's was a look of doubt.

"This is just so…why am I drawn to this spot so much. I want to be here, yet I can't stand it at the same time." Both of them thought without saying a word to each other.

Meanwhile, Peaches and Louis had arrived at the cove hours ago and were playing in the water. It was just recently when Peaches heard her Uncle arrive that they got curious and high-tailed it out of the water and got up on the rocks to follow them. They were in an area that was right under the cliff, if Diego or Shira had looked over the edge they would've seen them, but they were too busy thinking. Peaches was carrying Louis on her head, for his small size was making him slip when he walked on his own.

"Peaches…" Louis started whispering, "Should we really be spying on them?" Louis was more considerate, but Peaches was too curious.

"Only for a little while, then we'll head home. I don't want my Dad having another panic attack over nothing."

It was after she whispered that that Louis slid down her trunk and sat down on it as she turned it into a curve for her friend. The two then ignored all the waves crashing nearby and on their feet, as they reached up high on the talon-like rocks. Louis turned to Peaches, and as some of the water got on her head hair, she flicked it off with a turn of her head and Louis' eyes got wide and his heart quickened, she looked so fresh and lovely with this oceanic hair, and the aroma of sweet sea air to it. Louis was losing feeling in his legs, but snapped out of it when another wave came up and splashed him in the face. He dried it off and put his back up against the wall, his emotions were a bomb that was counting down to go off from his mouth, he just hoped it wasn't going to be a catastrophe like he imagined.

Back up on the top near the edge, Shira and Diego hadn't moved. Minutes that felt like hours went by, and neither of them moved. Soon, Diego burst, and strutted a walk of agony to the edge where he had jumped. "I just don't get it, I feel like I had to be here, and now I want to be as far away from here as I can get!" He had started growling at himself, and Shira was growing nervous. "Why can't I get my thoughts clear? We were here, we lived and that's all!" He pounded his fist into the rock, and Shira sat down on her hind and her ears went flat and looked out over the ocean before them.

"I don't know Diego, I just don't get it. We're here, aren't we? You're dream, that's not what happened!" Shira yelled and started crying knowing she couldn't help her mate and feeling almost like she did die. But her last sentence made Diego's ear twitch, his eyes widened, and his heartbeat became a bell.

"That's it…" Diego said out loud, he was rather proud too. Shira heard him say this, and she picked her head up from the melancholia she was experiencing in the moment.

"What…?"

"That's why I was drawn here…that's what the dream meant! It was reminding me what _didn't _happen." Shira got shaky at Diego's sudden peace at mind, he was realizing everything, but he wasn't done yet! "That's why I had to come here, because this was the place where I fell in love with you…" He turned to her when he said that, and she had started to get salty eyes again. "And also why I can't stand being here, because this is where I almost lost you…" He said the last part of shamefully, like his inner kitty was coming out. He had it all finally figured out, but he said it again, "What _didn't _happen…"

She wiped her face with her paw and sniffled with happiness. "And my dream…" Shira had told him that she had a dream about cubs on the way to the cove, and she seemed really static to tell him. "My dream must've been about…what _will _happen!" She exhaled the theory, but it was no theory, it was completely true, they both felt it.

"Three cubs…?" Diego asked her in a tone of escalating excitement. Shira just nodded, "So I guess that's it then…we're officially a family."

Both started to cry and nuzzled each other on their soft heads, and after they pulled away, not even death could've stopped them from kissing. The kiss was long and passionate, Diego knew nothing about love, but Shira was doing so much for him just in that short time, that he had enough love for her for his entire lifetime, and even beyond.

"Does this mean I'm officially inside your heart?" Shira asked him meekly, she knew the answer, but some part of her wanted to ask. Diego put his paw under her chin,

"After what happened, right here…" And he stamped his other paw on the rock beneath them, "On that day, you already were…" Words were more than enough, and the two lovers undergone another chilling kiss, under the light of the now setting sun.

Peaches was the only one who was listening, Louis was hearing. He wrapped every word of the talk above in his heart, and tightened his grip around it. "Aww…that's the most romantic thing I've ever heard…" She wiped a tear from one of her eyes using her trunk. Louis was vibrating where he stood, but he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"I wish I could talk to the girl I love like that…I'd say all of that and more." Peaches heard him and she looked his direction.

"Well why don't you practice on me? I'm a girl aren't I?" Peaches told him, proud of her gender. Louis smiled and stood up and faced her, the waves were getting stronger because of the moon that was almost rising, but the tides died down strangely for this one moment. Louis was ready to tell Peaches everything, even though she thought he was just practicing. Peaches was amped for this, she wanted to hear everything he was about to say.

"Peaches…ever since I met you, you've been a great friend, so much that you even picked me over the popular kids. I know you're a mammoth, and I'm just a shy little molehog who can't even stand up for himself, but you've always been in my head, I think about you day in and day out, even when I'm with you and I blink I think about you for that brief second I can't see you. You're stunning, beautiful even, you're athletic and you've some of the bravest guts of anyone I've ever met. So what I'm trying to say is…"

"I love you too Louis…" Peaches cut him off and said her thoughts too. She had figured out he wasn't practicing after he said her name at the beginning, it was then after she heard his speech and took into thought everything he was saying. Everything was right, over their childhoods, feelings had developed, but she had always ignored them until now.

"You…you love me too?" Peaches nodded her head and picked Louis up with her trunk and held him up to her face.

"You may be a molehog, but you're still the greatest guy I know, I'll do my best to make this work, so long as you do the same." Peaches was holding back her tears, she wanted to cry her soul out, but she was waiting for Louis. They hugged, and Louis was smiling so massively, the sun was ashamed of itself for not being as big, just then a wave splashed them and got them both wet, Louis was crying out his own salty water, and Peaches put him down.

"Wash that salt out of your hair, I don't want it becoming stiff and smelling salty. Well that, and I don't want your parents getting the wrong idea." Louis was so caring, Peaches couldn't hold in her tears, she let them out and brushed Louis just once.

"What idea, that I went swimming with my new boyfriend?" Boyfriend, Louis had waited his life to hear those words out of her. "Last one in has to tell my parents!" Peaches yelled and jumped off the rocks and into the water. Louis followed and they spend the longest time splashing back and forth in the water, nothing but a sense of serenity coupled with their newly realized feelings, and not caring about what anyone else thought.

Back up on top of the rock, Shira had finished her love session with Diego, they kissed and nuzzled until the sun went down now that they understood everything. They both knew cubs would be in their future someday, but for now they'd just enjoy their time together. As they noticed the sun was gone and began to walk back as a family, Diego popped another question.

"So you said that you dreamt of our cubs' names?" Shira nodded her head, "What were they?"

Shira thought back to her dream and did her best to say the names without giggling like a school girl. "Well our first girl had the name Odette, the smaller girl was named Iyani…" She stopped mid-sentence, this was just so she could make Diego say,

"What was the boy?"

"Well…you named him, so I want you to do the same in real life, when the time comes. If I tell you what it was, you wouldn't of named him." Shira was right, and Diego knew it.

"Well, alright then I guess I'll just do that myself when the time comes." Just then, a much bigger wave crashed against the rocks and caused a massive cloud of mist to rise onto the ledge where they were and covered them both with moisture. Diego shook himself off with a grunt, "Darn sea spray…" He grumbled out loud.

Shira's eye grew to the size of the ocean at the irony of what just happened, but her eyes returned to normal shortly after and she snickered like a regular clown. Diego noticed her sudden humor and wondered what was up.

"What…?" He asked her.

"Oh nothing…let's just get back home…I'm sleepy." Shira yawned.

Together they returned back to their den, both of them ready for the future, a future of hope, a future of fun and laughter, and mostly important to them, a future of family.

**What did Manny and Ellie have you say? Who cares! I know the couple Louis and Peaches make is weird, but they're just so adorable! I had to let them get away with it, and in case you're confused…no, in the time Diego and Shira spend while Louis was talking to Peaches, they didn't mate, Shira's not pregnant. She will be though in the future, but in this story she didn't. Well like I said, this sequel was completely by request, so thank you all reviewers you asked for a sequel…those authors are…MichaelAndDiegoMySunshine, Bastet Godess, scarlett101, someone who was anonymous, I wish I knew their name, daniela, Funkywatermelon, KaylaDestoryer, randomness, and movielover432. And thanks to all those who wanted a sequel and didn't ask! Without you guys this never would've happened! Just for that, I'll let you in on a secret…these guys will return in a sequel to "Better Than This", and Shira will be pregnant in that story! But that's all I'll tell you for now, thank you once again, and good night!**


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